Man Charged in Stabbing

A 26 year old man has been charged in a stabbing last week in the Blue Springs Community.
Julio Cesar Bernardo of Big Woods Road, Smithville is charged with aggravated assault and criminal impersonation. His bond is $27,500 and he will be in court on June 12. He is accused of stabbing another man several times with a kitchen knife at his Big Woods Road residence on Sunday, May 18. The victim was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga where he was treated and released. Bernardo, who left the scene after the stabbing, was arrested the next day but gave the officer a false name when identifying himself.
“We received a call on Sunday, May 18 to go to a residence on Big Woods Road in the Blue Springs Community for a stabbing,” said Sheriff Patrick Ray. “The deputies and detectives went there. We determined that Bernardo was the aggressor. He did the stabbing. The victim was airlifted to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga for multiple stab wounds where he was treated and released the next morning, Monday, May 19. Bernardo became a suspect and we found him the next day,” said Sheriff Ray.
The aggravated assault warrant against Bernardo alleges that on Sunday, May 18, Bernardo assaulted a man on Big Woods Road by stabbing him several times with a kitchen knife, causing the victim to be airlifted. Criminal detectives got a warrant on Bernardo and started looking for him. He was found and arrested the next day, on Monday, May 19.
Sheriff Ray said that when the officer arrived at Bernardo’s home to serve the warrant on him, Bernardo told the deputy that his name was Rafael. Bernardo gave the false name in an unsuccessful attempt to keep from being arrested. Bernardo later admitted to lying about his name.
In addition to the charges resulting from the stabbing and providing a false name, Bernardo was served with an assault warrant taken against him in 2009 by an individual in an unrelated incident.
28 year old Michael John London of Old Givens Hollow Road is charged with theft of property under $500. His bond is $1,500 and he will be in court June 5. He was arrested on Thursday, May 22. Sheriff Ray said that while London was inside the victim’s home doing some work on Lower Helton Road in Alexandria, he took approximately 50-one milligram Lorazepam pills belonging to the victim. London later admitted to taking all the pills and burning the prescription bottle.
59 year old Thelma LeRoyce Lea of Lebanon is charged with domestic assault. Her bond is $1,500 and she will be in court on June 5. Sheriff Ray said that on Saturday, May 24 a deputy was dispatched to the Company Store on Dale Ridge Road to a possible domestic incident occurring in a white van in the parking lot. Upon arrival, the officer saw Lea and a man inside the van and noticed that the man, Lea’s boyfriend, had a bloody and swollen nose. The man told the deputy that he and Lea had been arguing and that she hit him in the face, which broke his glasses and caused a cut on his nose. Lea admitted to the assault. She was determined to have been the primary aggressor.
42 year old David Christopher Hayes of McMinnville Highway, Smithville is charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication. His bond is $3,000 and he will be in court on June 5. Sheriff Ray said that on Sunday, May 25 Hayes showed up highly intoxicated at a residence on McMinnville Highway. He was yelling, screaming, and cursing the homeowners, stating that someone was trying to kill him and his seven year old daughter. Hayes was annoying the homeowners with his presence and was frightening them due to his actions and intoxicated state. Fearing for the child’s safety, the homeowners took the youngster into their home until officers arrived. Hayes refused to comply with the requests of deputies and EMS personnel and he was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct.
35 year old Dwayne Allen Reeder of Meridian Drive, Smithville is charged with the domestic assault of his wife. His bond is $5,000 and he will be in court on June 12. Sheriff Ray said that on Sunday, May 11 a deputy was dispatched to the emergency room of DeKalb Community Hospital to take a report of domestic violence. The officer spoke with a woman there who said that she and Reeder got into an argument around midnight on May 11 which resulted in Reeder attacking her, ripping the shirt off of her, and repeatedly striking her in the face with his fist. The woman’s right eye and cheekbone were severely swollen and bruised. Reeder was arrested on Monday, May 26.